Dallas Cowboys Blog

Bob Sturm: Cowboys didn’t show up; defense reaches all-time low

SportsDayDFW phoned The Ticket’s Bob Sturm to comment on the Cowboys’ loss to the Jaguars. The following is a transcription of the interview:

On the game:

They found a new all-time low, and we didn’t that was possible. The apathy headed into this game, with Rangers fever everywhere and people trying to get rid of their Cowboys tickets was undercut by the performance today. Something you would almost have thought would be impossible, especially against that opponent, which make no mistake was not a good football team. But if you put them out there against the 2010 Cowboys they looked like many of the other opponents, which is a team that can perform against the vaunted Cowboys defense and compete harder for every inch of the field.

What surprised you the most?

The fact they made David Garrard look like Johnny Unitas. Garrard and his receivers have not hooked up for 200 yards in a game. So to see them slice and dice the secondary may make me think less of Eli Manning slicing and dicing the Cowboys on Monday night. Now after Jay Cutler and David Garrard do it, you soon ask, Who doesn’t do it? Vince Young came in here and had success throwing the ball. To bring back pretty much all of your starters and to have no significant injuries keeping starters out of the lineup on defense and getting rolled up by any and every team has to go down as my biggest surprise of 2010.

It seems when teams play the Dallas Cowboys, they look to beat them in the air. Now let’s not confuse them with the fact that you can’t run on the Cowboys, because week after week we see teams run on them as well. But when it comes to top priority, it seems all of the opposing coordinators look at the Cowboys defense and say we want to isolate these cover players as often as possible.

On the Cowboys’ lack of pressure on defense:

Knowing that Wade Phillips almost never blitzes with defensive backs. The only people he feels comfortable are his two middle linebackers and maybe that shows us the problem, because with few exceptions when Bradie James and Keith Brooking blitz, they don’t get there and bad things happen behind them. Of course the flip side of that is that when he drops James and Brooking into coverage, quarterbacks find who they’re covering and go right at them. When you ask what disappoints me about the 2010 defense I probably have to start with those two players, who are fine against the run, but against the pass, they both become liabilities at times. If you can’t blitz them nor can they cover you are up a creek without a paddle.

Defense is predicated on pressure. We have seen reasonable pressure from DeMarcus (ware). Sporadic pressure from (Anthony) Spencer and almost no pressure from anywhere else. And if you’re not getting pressure, then you must pick your poison: use an ineffective blitz or rely on rather average coverage. Neither is going to win games in the NFL.

Any signs of hope?

I thought (rookie Phil) Costa was horrendous at left guard. But he wasn’t any worse than any other guys getting pancaked. Positives? I do see they are attempting to get some more reps for their defensive line depth. We saw a lot more of Josh Brent and Sean Lissemore on the defensive line, so it appears that they are making an effort to find out about some of these guys. But that is extremely smart potatoes. The big question for Cowboys fans is whether this team has any more stomach for the fight?

Were the Cowboys ill-prepared or not showing up?

Not showing up enough. I see too many lost blocks on the offensive line. I see Maurice Jones-Drew surging forward for extra yards against the defensive line. A lot of that is: Do you want that inch more than the guy across from you? I know it’s tough to play hard to get 2-4 when you thought you get to the Super Bowl eight weeks ago but that’s what being a professional is all about.